The Note in the Door

Ed and I have a Dodge Dakota pick up truck - one of those small ones. Don't use it a lot, but when we need it, we really need it! And our kids and friends borrow it periodically to haul stuff so we're always glad to have it around.

Today someone put a note on our door asking if we were interested in selling the truck. No, we're not. But the note reminded me of a story about my son when he was 15 1/2 and trying to buy his first car.

Joe had his heart set on a Bronco. You know, big tires, manly, yada, yada, yada. I mean, he already had the mullet so having a Bronco could only raise him even higher on the cool-o-meter.

So, we started looking around. There was an ad in the paper for a Bronco about 25 miles away in San Jose. We drove down there - Joe, Jenni, and Joe's friend, Aaron. Finally found the address and the car turned out to be in pretty bad shape and bright orange! So we drove my and didn't even stop. Joe was feeling very deflated. As we were driving out of the neighborhood, he spotted a teal and white Jimmy GMC (which apparently is similar to a Bronco) and told me to drive by. "But the car isn't for sale," I said. Joe said, "I know, but I want to look at it." He and Aaron hopped out of the car and checked it out - even sliding underneath to look for heaven knows what. And Joe fell in love.

He asked me if I had something for him to write a note with. I said, "You can't just ask people if they want to sell their car!" He said, "Sure I can." And he did. Left a note stuck in the door asking if they wanted to sell their car and leaving his phone number. I just shook my head and drove home.

That night Joe got a call. From the owner of the Jimmy. The woman asked him how much he was able to pay for the car and he said all he had was $2000. Then she started crying. She said she was having health problems and needed a procedure done but they didn't have the money. The cost was just under $2000. She and her husband had just been to church and were praying for an answer to their problems. On the way home they talked about maybe trying to sell the Jimmy! Then they found Joe's note.

So, Joe got his dream car. And I have never questioned his judgment again. On our end the story didn't have the greatest ending. Joe really wanted a "roll bar" (I think that's what they call it) and managed to find one that was a perfect fit. They guy wanted to get it out of his yard and sold it to Joe very cheap. The car sat at the curb for a few months until Joe was old enough to get his license. And then there he went - Mullett flapping in the wind, top down and roll bar shining, shirtless (for some reason he and Aaron were always taking off their shirts), the Budweiser sticker prominently displayed on the roll bar and the "No Fat Chicks or I'll Scrape" bumper adding a touch of class. Six months and two tickets later my son was back on his bike.

But, oh, what a story about how he bought his first car - back in the day.....